Interstate Battery suitable for battery bank???

EXPO365

Adventurer
Does Interstate make a deep cycle battery that is descent for a solar system? They're website sucks, and I'm still waiting for a email response from them.

I know they make golf cart batteries, I'm looking for something comparable to the Trojan T-105RE.

I have a family member who can get a discount for me, so hopefully I can save a little $$$.

Anybody using them in your rigs?
 

unseenone

Explorer
I have been totally turned off to Interstate. Particularly with their golf cart and auto batteries. I have happily switched to Deka which I am happy with at this stage.

I would not buy an interstate at this stage no matter how good the price seems.
 

4x4junkie

Explorer
Interstate = Johnson Controls.
Unless you can get then REEEAALLY cheap, I agree there are better options. They need a good bit of nurturing if they are to last any length of time it seems. Though if you're up for it, then go for it. A once per month full overnight absorption charge (10-15 hours) regardless of your use patterns could help keep them going for awhile. Also you may need to reseal the battery vents (if it has the 3-cell bar type caps) with some teflon plumbers thread tape to keep them from seeping acid from underneath the caps (exceptionally common issue with JC batteries).
 

ZMagic97

Explorer
I ran one in my weekend driver Camaro a few years ago. It lasted me 2 years without maintenance and driving the car every 2 weeks for a few miles. I would give it a shot if the price is pretty good. Other than that I would look for a Die Hard.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Of course they make 6V deep cycles.

The website seems ot work fine for me??

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/...hd-s?dsNav=N~2147384911-2147384722-2147384903

GC2-XHD-S


Those are the ones Im running, and are about as close to the T105R as you will find in the interstate.
The ratings are touch bit better than the Trojan. 232 AH vs 225 AH, but they are essentially the same battery.
Weight the same, same size, etc.

I got them at a local RV store for about $150 each

I run two of them for my custom camper, tied to 200watt 48V solar and a 20A MPPT charge controller.
 

wirenut

Adventurer
The golf cart battery is the one you want. If the price is right then try them. I pretty much only use Deka batteries and I've had great results with them. Trojan wants too much money for their name. They are good batteries though. I don't know about interstate. I'm not sure I've ever had one.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
A lead-acid battery is a lead-acid battery. They are all goofy chemistry experiments in a plastic box. They are all disposable commodity items.

Interstate sells "Interstate" branded batteries made by a lot of different manufacturers.

According to this page:

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm#I

Their GC (Golf Cart) series is made by U.S. Battery. Doesn't look like JC makes any of their deep cycle batteries except for Optima.


If the specs are what you need, and the price and warranty are good, then go for it. All lead-acid batteries are crap and only last a few years anyway.
 

Joe917

Explorer
A lead-acid battery is a lead-acid battery. They are all goofy chemistry experiments in a plastic box. They are all disposable commodity items.

Interstate sells "Interstate" branded batteries made by a lot of different manufacturers.

According to this page:

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm#I

Their GC (Golf Cart) series is made by U.S. Battery. Doesn't look like JC makes any of their deep cycle batteries except for Optima.


If the specs are what you need, and the price and warranty are good, then go for it. All lead-acid batteries are crap and only last a few years anyway.

The chemistry is the same but the quality of construction and the purity of the lead vary wildly. Your best measure of quality is company reputation. Rolls Surrette, Trojan, Lifeline and Crown just to name a few. Anyone who tells you all lead acid batteries only last a few years is flat out wrong. A properly sized and maintained bank will last 10 years or more. Sorry dwh I cant let that just go.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
10 years....

Possible, but unlikely. It's that "properly sized" caveat which drops sand in the gears.

Most have published life cycle numbers of 1,000 cycles at 50% DoD. That's not 10 years - that's 3 years if you cycle it daily (for instance, off-grid solar).

(But even then, it's not like it'll be at full capacity and just suddenly keel over and sink after 1,000 cycles. By the time you get to 1,000, it will have been getting steadily worse for a while.)




And that's at 50% DoD, which would be a battery (or bank) that is double the size of the daily loads. So how much bigger do you have to go to "properly size" a battery (or bank) to last 10 years? According to Lifeline, you have to keep DoD at 20% or less to get 3,000 cycles:



Lifeline-Cycles1.png




So that would mean that a battery (or bank) "properly sized" to last 10 years of daily cycling, would have to be 5 times the daily load to keep the daily DoD at no more than 20%.

As I said - possible, but unlikely. Especially in a truck.

And, as I said - all lead-acid batteries...even the highest quality...are crap and only last a few years....unless you RADICALLY oversize the battery (or bank).




But let's consider that 50% number for a moment...

According to the 50% rule, you have to buy double the batteries you need to service the daily load, to get 1,000 cycles.

But what if you didn't? What if you only bought whatever size battery you need to service the daily load? According to that chart above, you're going to get 350-400 cycles going down to 100% DoD out of a LIfeline AGM. The U.S. Battery flooded battery has a bit better life cycle curve - it will get you 500 cycles at 100% DoD (Trojan T-105 flooded is the same BTW, and the Trojan L-16 2v flooded has an even better curve):


DOD.png





So...

A) You can buy double what you need - and pay twice as much. But it will last 1,000 cycles.

OR...

B) You can buy what you need - and pay half as much. But it will only last 500 cycles. So you have to do it twice as often.

Price wise, it's six of one, half dozen of the other.

EXCEPT...

By going with option B you only have to carry half as much weight.

(Which is why I personally just ignore the 50% rule. It's fine for solar powered buildings that don't have to carry around the extra weight, or boats that need the ballast - but for a truck, I'd rather carry half the weight and replace it twice as often. What the hell...it costs the same either way.)
 
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tgreening

Expedition Leader
dwh;1846366 All lead-acid batteries are crap and only last a few years anyway.[/QUOTE said:
I dunno. The factory battery in my last superduty hung on for 8 solid years before it stopped holding a charge. I'd call that one a win.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
I dunno. The factory battery in my last superduty hung on for 8 solid years before it stopped holding a charge. I'd call that one a win.

Say it takes 1/5 of an amp*hour to start the truck. Say you do it twice a day. So sure, you got 6,000 cycles out of it. Maybe even more than that.

But at what DoD?

I dunno, but I can make a guess at it....

Say it was a 75ah battery with a DoD of .2ah per cycle. So the DoD was...um: .003%?

I'd say that was radically oversized. :)
 
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AndrewP

Explorer
As far as I know all Interstates are currently East-Penn

I thought Interstate brand was purchased by Johnson Controls?

East Penn normal batteries have a good rep-but they are hard to find. For instance, there was a rumor that Oreilly's were East Penn. So I went there and looked-the regular lead acid are Johnson Controls. Only the AGM high end was a rebadged Deka Intimidator.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
For instance, there was a rumor that Oreilly's were East Penn. So I went there and looked-the regular lead acid are Johnson Controls. Only the AGM high end was a rebadged Deka Intimidator.

I dunno about the East Penn rumor, but I bought two batteries from O'reilly last year. They were made by Enersys.


Note the part number - 31DCM:

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d....oap?ck=Search_N0369_-1_-1&pt=N0369&ppt=C0327


Web site showed it available at the store. But I noticed that they also had a 31DCMJ:

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/SSBB/31DCMJ.oap?ck=Search_31dcmj_-1_-1&keyword=31dcmj


When I got to the store, they had the 31DCMJ on the shelf. I asked what is the difference between the 31DCM, and the 31DCMJ? (I had a suspicion I already knew the answer.) They didn't know, so they called the support number that store clerks call to get answers. The support center told them the 31DCM is made by Enersys, and the 31DCMJ is made by Johson Controls. (My suspicion was correct.)

So I had to have them "order" the ones from Enersys, which I paid for, then I went back a week later to pick them up.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
I thought Interstate brand was purchased by Johnson Controls?

East Penn normal batteries have a good rep-but they are hard to find. For instance, there was a rumor that Oreilly's were East Penn. So I went there and looked-the regular lead acid are Johnson Controls. Only the AGM high end was a rebadged Deka Intimidator.

Interstate website says east penn.

Even has east penn in the actual http address.

Also, Carquest house brand is East Penn.


They are not hard to find.
 

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